1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital camera and, more specifically, to a digital camera having a reproduction zoom mode for displaying, in enlargement, a desired area of a reproduced image.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, a digital camera is provided with a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) imager, an image memory, a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as LCD) and the like. In an image pickup mode, an image picked up by the CCD imager is stored in the image memory, and in a reproducing mode, an image read from the image memory is displayed on the LCD.
When the digital camera is connected to a personal computer, it is possible to read the image data to a hard disk and then to display the image on a large display screen of a monitor, to enlarge and display a desired area of the reproduced image, or to print the displayed image.
Reproduction zooming, however, cannot be done by the conventional digital camera unless the user has a personal computer separately and is familiar with the operation of the personal computer.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera allowing reproduction zooming in a simple manner.
Briefly stated, in the present invention, in an image recorded in a recording section, an image of a zoom area designated by a designating section is read, the read image is enlarged to generate an enlarged image corresponding to one image plane, and the enlarged image is displayed and when a shutter button is pressed, the image of the zoom area is stored in the recording section. Therefore, even if the user does not have any personal computer, reproduction zooming is possible in a simple manner. Further, because the image of the zoom area is stored in the recording section, when the user wishes to view the enlarged image again, the enlarged image can be reproduced at once, without the necessity of designating the zoom scope.
Preferably, the designating section includes a magnification setting section for setting magnification of enlargement, a dimension setting section for setting dimension of the zoom area based on the set magnification, and a position setting section for setting position of the zoom area. Accordingly, the size and position of the zoom area can readily be designated.